India Still Talking of War Option

AFTER 9/11, India fabricated another 9/11 by stage-managing a terrorist attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001. It gave a ready-made excuse to deploy over one million troops along Pakistan border to bully Pakistan and extract concessions. While the military coercion made no impact because of tit-for-tat response by Pakistan armed forces, USA helped India in forcing Musharraf to cede to Indian demands. India once again manufactured 9/11 like drama in Mumbai to extract further concessions from Pakistan which are the ultimate of Indo-US-Israeli sinister plan. Mumbai attacks had similarities with 9/11 attacks particularly with regard to hostile media warfare and the anger expressed. Americans had bayed for blood and the UN hurriedly sanctioned the invasion of Afghanistan which had no role in the terrorist attacks. Afghanistan under the Taliban had neither any means to defend on military or technological planes nor on the media front and hence was made a scapegoat to assuage the rising anger of the American public. The Indian media too went bonkers, inflaming passions and fuelling the fatal enmity. Indian belligerence can be gauged from the poll taken by a private Indian channel which showed 90% Indians wanted India to attack Pakistan. BJP and other Hindu extremist parties were in the lead role desiring revenge. Not a single voice of sanity was heard from any quarter in India. Indian leaders were sure to harass and intimidate NRO cleared pliable leadership of Pakistan.

When Pakistan took action against Jamaatud Dawa and other religious outfits without India having provided any evidence, Indian leaders expressed their dissatisfaction terming it as window dressing designed to buy time and manoeuvring space. Pakistan’s request for concrete evidence to proceed further annoyed them. They arrogantly said that enough evidence had been furnished and accused Pakistan of resorting to usual denials and cosmetic action. They desired for a targeted response and wanted to see outcomes and rejected Pakistan offer of a joint probe. Instead of sharing evidence with Pakistan or neutral Interpol, India shared it with USA and UK. After resorting to tirade for eight weeks, India finally handed over so-called dossier to Pakistan and truculently informed the world that clinching evidence had been provided to Pakistan and it should get cracking to meet Indian demands. US and UK officials mounted pressure on Pakistan to speedily accept Indian demands to avert war.

When Pakistan described the dossier as a piece of information only with no shred of evidence that could be of some use in the court of law, Indian leaders felt highly miffed and jumped to the conclusion that civil administration in Pakistan was not in charge and it was army chief who called the shots. Write ups in Indian newspapers said that the army in Pakistan is back in control. Pakistan was described as epicentre of terrorism and the most nihilistic state of current times. Lashkar-e-Taiba was projected as the military arm of ISI with an India specific agenda. Aroon Purie, editor-in-chief of India Today described Pakistan a malignant tumour in India’s brain. A world wide diplomatic manoeuvre was launched to project India as victim of terror and Pakistan as the aggressor. The sinister purpose was to garner international support to get Pakistan declared as a terrorist state and the ISI and Pak army as rogue organisations. Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor upped the hype by saying that all options including war were open.     

The soft but re-corrected response by Pakistani leadership by refusing to send DG ISI as demanded further antagonised Indian leaders. The small but razor-sharp and biting media riposte which mirrored the sentiments of Pakistanis took the Indians by surprise and staggered them. Their lies started to get exposed too quickly and easily which checkmated their offensive and put them on the defensive. Their internal weaknesses and vulnerabilities which they had cleverly camouflaged under the farce of secularism were bared and the world got much wiser that India is hotbed of terrorism and Hindu extremism and biggest violator of human rights. In order to neutralise the media strikes emanating from Pakistan, India was prompt to alert its Pakistani cronies inside and outside Pakistan to play their role. Certain Pakistani TV channels and newspapers where the Indians have invested heavy amounts were to become the platforms to damage Pakistan cause and promote Indian cause. The lackeys have begun to play their devious role by bad mouthing against Pakistan.      

Mercifully, the political parties rose to the occasion and decided to shun their petty differences and come on a single platform to confront the Indian challenge backed by Israel, USA and UK. Army chief gave a loud message that a befitting response would be given to any misadventure. Indian hopes that the army would not be able to extricate itself from FATA and Swat dashed when some infantry units were physically shifted and the army took necessary preventive measures to forestall Indian aggressiveness. Likewise, the air force got alerted and not only drove away the intruding Indian planes that had come to test PAF operational preparedness but also flew combat missions to ensure that none dared violate Pakistan airspace. Pakistan navy is confident that it would be able to thwart Indian navy sea offensive or its efforts to affect a blockade. Another development which struck India the hardest was the vociferous calls of support given by all militant groups in FATA. All militant leaders expressed their willingness to fight the Indians alongside the army and promised whole-hearted support. They even volunteered to send thousands of suicide bombers into India to wreak havoc. Even the retired armed forces personnel whose number runs in lacs volunteered to fight for the defence of motherland. The convoys moving toward the border and the air patrols evoked loud cheers from the public and the soldiers were saluted and offered drinks and sweets as had been seen during the 1965 war.

The state of combat preparedness of the army could not have been better than what it is today. Whatever operational, technical and logistic flaws it had, had been rectified during the ten-month military stand off with India in 2002. The entire army is battle hardened carrying a rich experience of six years war under most trying conditions. Each infantry, armoured-infantry and artillery regiment has gone through the mill. The patriotic tribesmen too are fully battle inoculated and combination of the two would make an unconquerable force. The nation as a whole too is quite prepared for war since the people have become accustomed to bomb blasts and suicide attacks. Overall morale is high and it is a unique chance to gel the nation into a cohesive nation. The world has seen the pathetic state of affairs of India in Mumbai where ten gunmen had taken the port city hostage and kept 4000 Indian security forces including commandoes at bay for three days. Pakistan also see conflict with India as an opportunity to extricate its army from quagmire of FATA and pave way for departure of occupation forces Afghanistan which are otherwise in no mood to depart.

The international community that had gathered around India and extended its support has begun to veer away. This change has occurred not because of superior diplomacy or appropriate responses of our leaders, which were reactive and defensive, but because of optimal level of operational preparedness and US-UK still needing Pakistan critical support. It occurred since the mist of deceit spread by India through orchestrated disinformation campaign started to clear and truth prevailed upon falsehood. Crucial support of China and Saudi Arabia tilted the balance in favour of Pakistan and the world distanced itself from Indian unreasonable and belligerent posturing. Even India’s ardent supporters USA and UK pulled the rug from under Manmohan Singh feet by categorically stating that neither Pakistan government nor the ISI was involved. Fingers that were pointing towards Pakistan have now turned towards India.   

The writer is a retired Brig and a defence and political analyst. Email: ah.raja@yahoo.com